Tainted Strings
by sakka-no-himitsu
Summary: Akito, the headman of the Sohma clan, is strategically plotting to remove a Sohma. But, who will it be?
1. Chapter 1: The Executioner

**Disclaimer: waves to everyone Hello all! No, I do not own Fruits Basket and please don't sue me lol --; **

Akito-san, the rightful head of the cursed Sohma clan, soundlessly creeps out to his hidden zen garden as the big wooden clock inside rings eleven times.

He slips through a gaping hole in a rotting fence to reach his destination, eager to gaze upon the tranquility of his secret piece of Mother Nature. The young man weaves in and out of clumps of overgrown weeds and comes to an abrupt halt before a partly opened gate. Upon swinging the gate fully open, the golden orange sun, out from a few scattered clouds, illuminates the private haven. A plethora of various flowers, ranging from violets of the deepest purple to daisies of the brightest white encircle the outskirts of the garden. In front of the flowers, small nearly fully blossomed Sakura trees stand wavering in the wind.

With a curious bright glint in his eye, he strolls over to the youngest of the trees, catching a pink blossom on its descent from the heavens. His fingers forcefully clamp down onto the blossom while his dark eyes linger on a silver cage in the middle of the garden. Placing his lips on his palm, Akito blows the crushed flower away, chuckling to himself.

Eyes staring intently at the cage, he moves like a ghost in a graveyard towards the center of his garden. He quickly reaches it and opens the cage door.

The park's silence fades away as the musical notes of canaries dance playfully in the air. Akito watches the birds for a while, gazing at them with a wicked smile. His hand lurks into the cage and gently scoops up on of the birds. Holding it only mere centimeters from his face, he whispers to it:

"Oh, my beautiful.. **sweet **little bird.. today I have a special surprise for you..."

He ends the sentence abruptly, whipping out the bird's surprise to plop it on the ground. Just as Akito does this, the cheerfully sparkling sun disappears behind gloomy clouds. A chill briefly runs through the air, causing the other birds to cease their happy chatter. But, the selected bird loudly belts out a song despite the change in atmosphere. Akito, with a flick of a wrist, sets the bird into a now golden cage that contains an assortment of treats: a small birdswing, rainbow colored bird candies and enough bird food to last for months. The bird plays alone in its cage happily, forgetting it's other companions.

"Yes, play.. play my **lovely** one." After observing the bird's contentment, he clasps the cage shut and hides it away behind a tall statue. He gives the garden one final glance before heading back to the compound.

Velvet slippers tread silently on the floor, the owner's face gleaming suspiciously bright.

Blending in with the shadows, Akito sneaks past Hatori's study, not wanting to cause the older doctor to fret. He succeeds and finds the room he wishes to explore: the library. The double doors open with a barely audibe creak as Akito enters the room. This particular library, mostly used to store Hatori's huge collection of books, also contains a hidden door, which leads to a room no one but Akito knows of. The sickly man brushes past three shelves, halting at the fourth one. Sliding easily between the wall and the bookshelf, Akito impatiently yanks a priceless rug from the wall. A small, four foot high door appears from behind the rug, ready to lead him to his beloved room. He forcefully jams a tiny silver key in the lock of the doorknob, jiggling it ever so slightly three times. Promptly at the third jiggle, the petite door budges open. He absentmindedly traces the pattern of circles engraved on the door with his finger, enjoying the rush of adrenaline he always receives before going to this room. With a quick intake of air, Akito bolts through the door, carefully closing it behind him. For Akito, this type of lively energy drives him only when he conspires to control his family.

The tainted ruler begins to fidget with glee as his big eyes consume his surroundings. Wooden shelves line the cream colored walls, holding up twelve minature glass figurines. One by one, Akito walks by each doll, finally stopping before one. He pets the singled out hunk of glass, raising it up into the afternoon light shining from the window. The dazzling light scatters off the surface of the figurine, making its form indistinct, but notably in the shape of some animal. In a lowered tone, the dark haired man sarcastically speaks to the inanimate object:

"Oh, I'm afraid I have no use for you anymore..." He then crushes the unfortunate one in his hand, shattering it into hundreds of pretty slivers. He uncaringly flings the glass remains out of the window and replaces the lost figurine with another. Giving the new placeholder a glance of approval, Akito exits the room to commence his plan.


	2. Chapter 2: The Pixie

**Drum roll pleeeeeeeeeeeease: I have completed chapter two of _Tainted Strings_ at last! (haha, a month later ..) Mou! Anyway, yadda yadda- I don't own Fruits Basket and please read + review. Sankies 3 3!**

Ayame's shop, a special little haven in which the golden eyed man spends a good portion of time each week in, hums and buzzes with an unusual amount of vibrantly cheerful energy today. This comfortable atmosphere currently reflects the owner of the shop's content state of mind; in this instance, his mood floats amoung the triumph horns of Gabriel in heaven.

From the storage room, the sound of a man singing echoes against the walls, adding to the peaceful feeling in the store. Suddenly, the man of the hour daintily skips across the linen floors, screeching in a high pitched voice: "Miine-chan! Come look at the final touch to my masterpiece!" He giggles and dances to and fro like a hyperactive chihuahua that has devoured too much sugar as he impatiently waits for his faithful assistant to come. She rushes into the vicinity of Ayame's work area, squealing in pure delight as she ganders in awe at the same object."Oh Ayame-san," she gushes in her typical bubbly tone,"it's absolutely beautiful!"

With an exaggerated flatter of the eyelashes and flamboyant flick of the hand, the extroverted man begins to fake modesty and hide his secret love of admiration. But his attempts at a humble attitude fails, his vain one naturally bumping the first one out of his mind in a matter of seconds. "I know! Isn't it the most exquisite dress you have seen," he retorts back, eyes glittering with a contagious enthusiasm. She continues to gaze adoringly at the golden jeweled piece of fabric, her mind fixed upon her boss's work of art. The shimmering outfit glows magically in the reflection of the shop owner's eyes and seemed to lightly decorate the inner rims of his pupils.

Loudly clapping one final time, Ayame lets out a theatrically exasperated sigh, motioning for Miine to carry his beloved masterpiece away. "Put it up in the display case, but remember to tell anyone who asks that it isn't for sale," he says in a teasing tone, a playful pout appearing in between his rosy cheeks. "Hai," she says exuberantly back, whisking away the said example of Ayame's talent. But in mid-step, she suddenly ends her eager trek to showcase the newest addition to the shop's treasures, spinning back around to speedily trot back to Ayame's side.

"Senpai, I forgot to give you this package that came today," he cute girl mumbles hurriedly, handing him the mysterious box. In one distinctive slash of the kitchen knife, Ayame successfully manages to alleviate the first class stamped box of it's carrier duties. Once again the air trembles gaily due to his high tneor voice, flowing in time with each anticipated gasp:

"Oooh.. these colors, these colors...the material is just the kind I've been looking for," the man piped, his pale skin glowing like a woman in love. His womanly long fingers trace the length of each delicacy, savoring the brief moments of designer ecstasy. Ayame leafs through every neatly cut piece of fabric, his mind quickly churning out ideas like a strong, never-ending stream of water. He mentally orgasms over this little taste of fabric heaven one final time before gently setting them down next to a fabric cutter.

In the feverish thrill of uncovering the secret in the box, the exuberant Sohma almost forgets to read the return address- but not quite. Rushing over to the discarded cardboard object, Ayame hastily flips the half crushed package holder over and frowns. To his dismay, instead of finding a helpful link to the sender in the area designated for a return address, his puzzled eyes land on a red inked slash which ungracefully divides the space in half. He continues to stare at the hastily drawn marking, his lips automatically puffing outward to form a distinct pout. Tapping a pencil to his mouth, the shop owner defaults to his storytelling mode, cramming his thinking cap on his already ego filled head.

A few seconds pass and a bright yellow light bulb energetically flashes in Ayame's head. "Miine," he yells, "come quick!" The girl, detecting the urgency in her boss's voice, scurries dutifully back to his side, her face lit up with concern. Peering down at his faithful minion, he woefully sighs and accusingly points at the object of frustration. "Ah! This delightful little box appears to have no named sender.. did you happen to see the kind person who sent this deary," the shop owner asks Miine-chan, a small twinkle of hope faintly glistening in his eye. "No, I didn't see anyone senpai," she squeaks, anxiety obviously frothing from her tone of voice. Ayame's once girlishly sparkly eyes loose their youthful tint momentarily and the man's overexaggerated pout appears once gain.

Glancing over to his eager to please student, he continues to embrace the facial expression of pouting, pushing his lips further and further out as if he passionately competes against a Cover Girl model for a future photoshoot. The once President of the Student Council finishes of his small performance by huffing and childishly groaning.

Miine-chan reaches over to comfort her obviously disappointed boss, but before her hand reaches the material of his brightly colored outfit, the store clock begins to playfully whiff and whistle to signal the end of another productive work day. The time keeper, a birthday gift from 'Gure-san, awakens the silver haired man from his theatrical onstage mode and causes him to jump up in a slightly startled fashion. Bending his neck to the right, his eyes discover that the store's exact closing time skips quickly away with each soft tick of the second hand.

"Oh, four o'clock already! Time to close shop Miine," he says quickly to the already cleaning girl, his big golden windows to the soul trembling with frenzied excitement. Standing up straight and tall with his chest puffed out like a mating peacock, Ayame struts over to the back of the display case to lovingly brush off any accumulated dust on his golden jeweled beauty, cautiously taking care not to accidentally knock off any of it's glorious decoration. Satisfied with the new clean appearance of the dress, the shop owner almost hops to the back room to flick off the light and snatch up his sequined man bag.

The snake pops out of his working room like an energetic lightening flash, cheerfully skipping to the main area of the cute shop to give it a final lookover before returning home. Miine starts to leave her sempai to her closing duties, waving goodbye to him like a silly schoolgirl. He catches her before she bounds out the door, sneakily tugging on one of her long braids. "Miine, don't forget to come early tomorrow- we have lots to do," Ayame speaks to her in a honey toned voice, causing her to momentarily waken in the knees.

Amused by this fangirlish reaction, he merely winks and waves at her as she walks to the closest bus stop. Once she reaches a distance out of his range of sight, he restarts musing to himself about the mysterious package, still highly curious about who on Earth sent the box. Flipping the big sign on the front door from "Open" to "Closed", he continues to silently try to solve this interesting quandary. He glances once last time at his precious little shop before walking at a fairly fast pace home. Picking up his speed, he finds a good steady rhythm before attempting to really solve the mystery in his head.

After a few minutes pass, his slow jog changes into a fast run. Laughing gleefully to himself, the snake devises an answer to the question of the moment: a secret admirer. Eager to dial up his close cousin 'Gure-san, the man zooms down the rest of the street in a flash. Coming to his delightful white with pink flowers picket fence, he quickly checks the mail before pushing the door to the inside. Ayame slams the door shut and hurriedly bounces over to the phone, nearly spazzing out from the brilliance of his idea.

He mutters excitedly to himself, waiting for his cousin to answer: "'Gure-san, 'Gure-san, pick up, pick up!"


End file.
